Car-Aaazy

Life seems to be so full of things lately, I figured I better take a minute to record what we've been up to.

I'm preschooling Aftyn and Bronwyn. Started last week! Bronwyn is a receptive little thing and it's fun to get to work one on one with Aftyn and see how close she is to reading.

Bronwyn is still getting her 3 year molars. Those things seems like they are NEVER going to come!

Mirren is still toothless. Yet again, those teeth just want to stay in. I don't mind though, she doesn't seem to be in too much pain.  She is getting super mobile. She likes to find hair elastics the girls drop on the floor mindlessly and chew on them. Never eat, just chew. I find at least one a day in her mouth. Ew.  Obviously I should vacuum every night. Gotta get that into my routine.

My parents 50th wedding anniversary is coming up this weekend. That should be fun. It'll be nice to get the siblings all together to honor them.

Last weekend I sang in a trio with my sisters Alyson and Laura in Alyson's ward. I have NEVER received so many compliments in my life. And the song was good, but I messed up at least 3 times. And still received so many kind people's compliments. I'm totally singing in that ward again! :)

We got to have dinner with Reed's brother and wife here in Idaho Falls. Steve and Amanda and their 7 kids + us = lots of people, lots of yummy food and lots of good conversation! They were such good sports to come have dinner with us after hiking and driving through Yellowstone all day. Even though we were 15 minutes late for dinner and they were probably starving and wondering where we were. ;)

Reed is working. And driving. Repeat. I think we must be coming into his busy season because boy has he gotten busy! He's already tired of being gone from home so much. And we all miss him but it won't be forever. And his busy-ness will end.

A Miracle

I have felt strongly the need to document a miracle that has occurred in our life. I don't mean this tongue in cheek, and there's nothing funny about it.

Aftyn had her eye checkup 2 days ago, about a week earlier than we had planned but I am so grateful for the good news we got.

After almost 8 weeks of dilating drops to give her right eye a chance to strengthen, we saw IMPROVEMENT! Now instead of having total suppression in her right eye she has intermittent suppression.

It was amazing to see.

From an eye that could not see on its own to an eye that could be made to see when asked, it was awesome.

Her doctor says that in another 8 weeks, we should see even more improvement and we will probably be able to start to wean her off the eyedrops and eventually be done with them sometime after Christmas. Her eye should be completely normal and seeing as it should.

I am so grateful for the choice we made to keep her out of kindergarten this year. I am grateful for the time this additional year gives her eyes to get to a much healthier place.

 I can't help but realize the miracle that this is for Aftyn and the future of her eyesight.


I. am. grateful.

Miri, Mirren, MirMir's, Luli

This girl is so loved. Happy 9 months little sweetheart!

Bronwyn makes her giggle all the time!

Aftyn is such a good helper and picks her up for me, which makes Mirren smile so big!

Reed can make her smile so cutely. She loves to talk to him on the phone and hear his voice. 

No one gives this girl as much comfort as Mommy. 

 In the middle of the night, she implores me with both arms to snuggle in bed. 

She is such a snuggler. She is so patient. She is so sweet. She loves to pull hair. She loves to eat hair. She loves her little tongue and we see a fair amount of that cute little thing. She loves to army crawl/scoot around and spend time "playing" with her older sisters.  When she's really happy, she breaks into babble, which I love to hear. She did say "mama" before "dada" but it means nothing. She's just as likely to say "lala" and "nana" and any other silly sound that comes out of her mouth. She has clingy little fingers when she wants to stay with mommy. She loves to nurse and is only just finding foods that make her want a second bite. She just wants her milk. Bronwyn loves to play with her and tickle her and give her toys. All unbidden. Her reward for all her effort is that she gets automatic smiles from her adoring little sister.

Tea Anyone?

Bronwyn likes to wear sunglasses in the house I think so she can be like Aftyn. It rarely happens though because it's hard to see with those on in the house, oddly enough. ;)

I took these a few weeks ago. 

Mirren LOVES to be in Aftyn and Bronwyn's room with them when they are playing. 

I plunked her down in their room one afternoon and suggested a tea party! 

My girls love tea parties and so they were more than happy to host one just for Mirren. 

And Mirren loved being a part of it all, clearly. 

Love these girls and especially I love how much they love each other.

I Guess It Has Lost Its Zing

I have lost my desire to blog. What in the heck is wrong with me? Maybe too many things to try and figure out right now.

Where to move and why to move there - that decision is coming up quickly.

Aftyn - she's 5 and needs to socialize more with her peers. How??

I need to spend more time with my scriptures and prayer - When?

I need to continue to balance the time to eat right and exercise
    and keep myself motivated to do so.

What in the world am I supposed to be doing right now with other relationships
that aren't where I feel they should be?

I'm not by any means desperately seeking a fix for all these things now, just struggling with how
to balance it all and my family's needs and my own needs and everything.

On the bright side, this happened today in Primary:
(By the way, I'm a Sunbeam teacher. That's why I was there.)

Bishopric Member: "The Holy Ghost speaks in whispers to us. Does anyone have an example of when the Holy Ghost has whispered to them?"

Aftyn raises her hand. Cue me looking curious and nervous as to what this outcome could be.

Bishopric member: "Go ahead and tell us what happened Aftyn".

Aftyn: "I was sleeping and when I woke up I couldn't find my unicorn. So I said a prayer."

Primary President: "And what happened?"

Aftyn: "The Holy Ghost told me it was under my sisters bed and I looked there and found it."

Cue me looking on with tears in my eyes and a feeling of peace in my heart.


Yes folks, life might be full of questions but in that moment today

 I knew we were doing something right.

7 Years

A few days ago, Reed and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary. We consider it a pretty special year for us since we were married on 7-7-07. (No we didn't mean for that to happen, it just so happened that the day we wanted to be married the temple would be closed on so we had to go for a week earlier which happened to be 7-7-07. True story)
 Here are some of our accomplishments as a family in 7 years:

                   Reed has earned 2 degrees
                   We've had 3 girls
                   We've owned one house
                   Moved 6 times
                   Lived in 4 different cities
                  Crossed the United States by car twice
                  Held LOTS of callings, including ward mission leader, elders quorum president,
                  11 year old Sunday School teacher, ward choir director, Wolf pack leader,
                   primary presidency 1st counselor, and sunbeam teacher
                  
                  AND THE BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT:
                  Through thick and thin, we still love each other and want to stay married!

                      

                   
                  

Happy Fourth of July!

Men in Kilts+firemen=